Frozen
by LeaMarie F. Metallium
Summary: The aftermath of Cold War.


Title: Frozen  
Author: LeaMarie F. Rocket 

I don't own Code Lyoko. If I did this would've been part of an episode. Or at least a kiss would've been seen for crying out loud!

Ulrich sat up, a cold sweat dripping off of him. He curled up in a small ball, as the dream started to replay in his mind. Ulrich had been having the same dream since that day. And each time the dream was always the same.

The cold was biting even through the thick layers of cloths that they had on. Ulrich had been struggling to get Yumi out from under the large tree that she had saved him from. Once the last chain had broken he'd given up getting her out and had started to concentrate on keeping Yumi warm and awake.  
He could feel her breathing start to slow down, a sign that her body was starting to give out. "Yumi, we need you to fight in Lyoko. I need you!" A tear fell and promptly froze. Ulrich tightened his wrapped arms around her. He waited for Yumi's next breath, which never came. Ulrich started to cry into her hair. Ulrich preyed for Jeremy to activate the Return to the Past and bring her back to him, but like Yumi's breath, it never came.

Ulrich sat in bed trying to calm himself down. _"Calm down, Ulrich. Yumi's fine, Jeremy did a Return to the Past just in time to save her."_ Ulrich told himself. He stood up and silently moved to the widow and stepped back in terror. The ground was totally covered in a blanket of snow. Ulrich felt himself starting to panic, he reached for his cell phone and dialed Yumi's number. _"Please!"_ Ulrich silently begged. He waited for the phone to ring, but it never came. He looked down at his cell phone which was now totally dead. Ulrich dropped down onto his bed, his body curling up into a small ball. He started to sob loudly. _"She's dead The Return to the Past never happened. I haven't been dreaming, I've been remembering! She's dead, Yumi's dead!"_

Odd woke up to Ulrich's sobbing. "Hey, man, what's wrong?" When Ulrich didn't answer Odd pulled himself out of bed and placed his hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "Ulrich, man, come on, answer me!" Ulrich responded by curling up into an even tighter ball. "Ulrich, I'm going to get Jeremy and Aelita. I'll be right back!" Odd exclaimed running out of the room. Odd was in such a hurry that he didn't see Sissy or Jim. Jeremy and Aelita were standing outside of Aelita's room. "Guys, I need help! There's something wrong with Ulrich!" The three ran back once again past Jim and Sissy.  
Odd opened the door to let them in. "Ulrich?" Aelita asked walking into the room. When he didn't answer she ran and wrapped her arms around him.  
"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked.  
"Don't know. I woke up and he was like this!"  
"He looks like his heart was broken," Sissy said from the doorway.  
"Come on, Son. It can't be that bad," Jim said helpfully. This only caused Ulrich's sobs to intensify.  
"Odd, give me your phone!" Sissy demanded.  
Odd clutched his phone to his chest. "Why?"  
"To call Yumi. What ever is wrong with Ulrich probably has something to do with her," Sissy explained.  
"Fine, but I'm calling her!" Odd snapped dialing Yumi's number.

Yumi sat in the grass trying to explain an assignment to William when her phone started ringing. "Hello?"  
"Yumi! We need you to get to the dorm now!" Odd yelled.  
"Why? Who's that crying in the background?" She demanded.  
"Ulrich!"  
"I'll be there in a second." Yumi hung up the phone and turned to William. "I've got to go, Ulrich needs me!" She jumped up and took of running, not noticing William following shortly after her.  
Yumi reached the dorms quicker than she thought she would. She was shocked to see Ulrich curled up in a ball sobbing with a teary Aelita trying to comfort him. Sissy was standing just inside the door next to Jim. William walked into the room as Yumi as she went running into the room. She dropped onto the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Ulrich? What's wrong?" He stopped sobbing and slowly raised his head. When he saw Yumi he let out a shrike and jumped away. "What's wrong?"  
"This can't be happening. Y-your dead!" Ulrich exclaimed.  
"Ulrich, I'm alive," Yumi stated slowly moving closer to him.  
"You froze…you're dead!"  
"She's alive, Ulrich," Aelita said tears streaming down her face.  
"But how? You froze, we didn't make it in time!" Ulrich sobbed.  
Yumi shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. "It was a dream, I'm fine. That never happened."  
"Sissy, Jim, William you guys can go. Now that Yumi's here we can take care of things here," Jeremy suggested.  
"I don't think-" William started but was cut off by Jim.  
"If you're sure, come find me if you need me," Jim said herding the other two out. Jeremy shut the door behind them and sat on Odd's bed. Aelita sat next to him and took his hand. Odd dropped down onto a chair.  
"Ulrich, Yumi almost froze to death that day, but she made it. Jeremy activated a Return to the Past just in time," Odd explained.  
"Think of all the things that we've all done since then, all the trips to Lyoko," Aelita suggested.  
"Can you guys leave me alone? I need some time to myself." Ulrich asked.  
"Uh, sure. Come on let's go get something to eat," Odd suggested. Aelita and Jeremy stood up.  
"Coming, Yumi?" Aelita asked. Yumi nodded and started to walk away until Ulrich's hand grabbed hers.  
"Please, stay." Yumi nodded and sat back down.  
"I'll stay here." The rest of the group walked away and left the two alone. The couple sat in silence. "Ulrich, what…why? What caused?"  
Ulrich sat in silence for a moment. "The snow…started it…then not being able to reach you…"  
"There's more, isn't there?"  
Ulrich nodded his head. "Every night since that day I've been seeing you die in my dreams. I could never be sure if you're alright or not. At first I wasn't sure until I saw you, and then I started to wonder if it was really you or if I was seeing things."  
"Ulrich!" Exclaimed hugging him. "Why didn't you talk to us?" Tears were flowing down her cheeks.  
"How could I let them know? I couldn't tell them that I hadn't been able to protect you. How could I be expected to protect Aelita if I couldn't protect you?" He cried burring his head into her shoulder.  
"Ulrich, shhh. There was nothing you could've done. It was my choice to save you. I'd do it again even if it meant that I'd"  
"NO! Please," Ulrich whispered. "Please don't leave me."  
"I'm not going anywhere," Yumi responded softly.  
Ulrich and Yumi sat holding each other for several minutes until Ulrich muttered, "Yumi, I'm tired."  
"Then sleep. I'll stay here until you wake up."  
Ulrich lay down and closed his eyes as Yumi settled in next to him. That's how Odd found them at lunch time. He silently shut the door behind him and almost walked into Sissy and William. "What do you two want?""How is he?" William asked.  
"He's sleeping," Odd answered harshly.  
"Good. Has anyone called his parents?" Sissy asked.  
"God no! He'd kill us if we did!" Odd exclaimed.  
Sissy hesitated for a second. "How about Yumi's parents?"  
"Why would we call them?" Odd asked confused.  
"They might like to know that their daughter's love interest just had an episode," William stated. "Plus the teachers are beginning to wonder where Yumi's been all day. Her parents should know why she hasn't been in class all day."  
"Fine, I'll call them!" Odd exclaimed walking way to discus with the group what he should say to Yumi's family.

Yumi woke up to her phone ringing. "Hello?" She asked as she felt Ulrich roll closer to her and tighten an already tight hold on her waist. "Yumi, I'm at the school. It's time to go. Get Ulrich up and ready to go." Yumi's mom said cheerfully.  
"Mom, where are we going?"  
"Home to eat dinner!"  
"Ok, we'll be down in a little bit," Yumi hung up the phone. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that they'd slept through the whole day. "Ulrich?" She asked gently.  
"Hm?"  
"Time to get up," She whispered to him.  
"Don't wanna," he muttered.  
"I know but it's 5 in the evening and my mom's here to take us to the house for dinner."  
Ulrich opened his eyes. "Mom's here?" he asked.  
Yumi rolled here eyes before answering, "Yes, mom's here. I'm going to go out into the hall and let you get dressed. If you're not in the hallway in 5 minutes I'm going to come get you, ok?"  
"K," Ulrich muttered as Yumi sat up. She smiled down at him and brushed some hair out of his eyes.  
"I'll see you in five."  
Five minutes later Yumi and a still slightly groggy Ulrich walked out to the car. "Did you two just get up?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.  
"Yes," Yumi muttered while Ulrich nodded his head.  
"Well then you both must have needed the sleep. Come on, dinner should be almost ready by the time we get home." Both teens nodded and climbed into the car.  
Hiroki was setting the table as they walked in. "Ulrich, Hi!" Hiroki exclaimed happily.  
The boy's enthusiasm caused Ulrich to smile. "Hi, Hiroki."  
"You two sit down at the table and I'll bring dinner out," Mrs. Ishiyama said heading to the kitchen. Almost as soon as the last plate was set out Yumi's father walked in. Hiroki greeted his father as happily as he had Ulrich, while Yumi's greeting was a much more nervous. She knew her father wasn't incredibly found of Ulrich.  
"Good to see you again, Ulrich," Mr. Ishiyama said surprising everyone.  
"You too, sir," Ulrich replied.

Dinner was surprisingly fun for Ulrich. The family had included him in their conversations. They'd even asked about his grades and to his amazement, they were pleased with his Bs and the improvements to his math and history grades.  
"Ulrich, would you mind giving me a hand with the dessert? Mrs. Ishiyama asked.  
"Sure," He said standing up.  
"Mom," Yumi stared but was stopped when Ulrich smiled at her.  
When they were in the kitchen Mrs. Ishiyama turned to Ulrich. "Ulrich, if you ever need to talk or need anything, please let me know." Ulrich felt tears start to fill his eyes. "Thank you." Ulrich was shocked when she pulled him into a hug.  
"I've started to thin of you as a son, so please let me know if you need anything," She whispered to him.  
Ulrich hugged her back as tears cascaded down his face. "Thank you." Mrs. Ishiyama hugged Ulrich until the tears topped.  
"Shall we bring this out?" Ulrich smiled and nodded his head.

To Ulrich the evening went by way too fast. The family had talked and had played a game of Go against Hiroki, with Yumi helping Ulrich. Ulrich sighed slightly as the school came into view. He really didn't want to go back tonight. "Thank you for driving me back, Mrs. Ishiyama."  
"No problem, Ulrich. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself tonight. We'll have to have you back again soon."  
"Yeah, I think Hiroshi enjoyed having you at the house too," Yumi said smiling.  
"Here we are!" Mrs. Ishiyama announced stopping the car. "Let's make plans to do this again next week."  
"I'd like that," Ulrich replied finding himself smiling again.  
"I'll walk you up," Yumi said opening her car door.  
It only took a couple of minutes to reach Ulrich's dorm. They stood outside the door for a moment. "Yumi, thanks for everything."  
"I should be thanking you, for caring about me, and for all the times you've protected me.  
"Yumi, I"  
Yumi smiled and hugged him. "Sweet dreams, Ulrich,"  
"Thanks, you too." Yumi pulled away from the hug. "Night, Yumi"  
Yumi quickly leaned in quickly and kissed him on the forehead. "Night," she said before walking away. "I'll see you tomorrow!" She called as she rounded the corner, leaving a still shocked Ulrich.  
"Yeah…tomorrow…"


End file.
